Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question to the Minister for Northern Australia. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on its commitment to developing northern Australia, and how is the government changing the role of the NAIF, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility?

Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for his question. He has always been a fierce advocate for the north, and he knows, as I and other people in this House know, that developing the north is critical to our nation's prosperity, security and future.

As Minister for Northern Australia, I'm committed to leading an agenda for developing northern Australia that focuses on delivering sustainable and resilient growth, and that is why I re-established the Ministerial Forum on Northern Development. In our second meeting since getting elected, we met in Kununurra, on Miriwoong and Gajirrabeng country. We discussed key priorities, including the increasing momentum of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility in enabling a diverse range of infrastructure projects right across the north.

I introduced a bill in parliament earlier this year amending the NAIF to deliver on the Albanese Labor government's commitment to ensure that the NAIF is best positioned to maximise economic outcomes right across the north of this country. These amendments to the NAIF Act will increase the NAIF's appropriation from $5 billion to $7 billion; add the Indian Ocean Territories as part of the meaning of northern Australia; and, very importantly, clarify that NAIF's financing of northern Australia's economic infrastructure is to benefit Indigenous persons and that this is an additional objective of the NAIF Act. This bill, currently before the Senate, very importantly has bipartisan support which will ensure its passage through this parliament, and it will set, as we work together, the foundation for a better future for those in northern Australia.

But there is still more to be done. The government has provided the NAIF with a statement of expectations, highlighting our priority to transition Australia's energy sector toward net-zero emissions by 2050. NAIF projects that will support this objective include $610 million into the Genex pumped hydro project in Kidston in Queensland and also $37 million in Merricks Capital's Hudson Creek Power Station and the Batchelor solar farm for Darwin and the Northern Territory. Unlike those opposite, who used the veto of NAIF against a wind farm project outside Cairns, we believe in climate change and are acting to meet our net-zero commitments, and the NAIF is doing its part in this regard.

It is also doing its part to address housing shortages. It is investing in student accommodation in northern Australia. Forty-six million dollars of NAIF funding has been provided to James Cook University for a student accommodation facility in Townsville. It has provided over 400 rooms for students studying in North Queensland, with high-quality communal facilities including self-catered kitchens and dining spaces. There were 348 jobs created in the construction of this facility, and the total net benefit to the Townsville economy is estimated to be over $140 million. And we continue to use the NAIF to invest in critical minerals projects which will be needed to drive the energy transformation of this country.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be posted on the Notice Paper.